AFL preliminary final: The players and stories behind Port Adelaide’s premiership dream
In a career spanning 305 games, Travis Boak has cried after two losses. This is how he recovered from his lowest moments to get back in the premiership hunt.
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Travis Boak has cried twice after games.
The first came when Port Adelaide went down by a heartbreaking three points to Hawthorn in the 2014 preliminary final.
The second set of tears fell last year when the Power narrowly missed a berth in the grand final, losing by six points to Richmond in a pulsating preliminary final at Adelaide Oval.
It was a devastating loss in a Covid-stricken year that left Boak fearing the worst – they had blown their last shot at a flag.
“It hurt a lot and the emotions all came out and then the anger, sadness and frustration was around for a while after that,” Boak told The Advertiser.
“It probably took me a good six to eight weeks to get over. I sort of went away and let the pain sink in and that took a fair while for that to sort of pass by.
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“There were thoughts like, is that our last chance for myself and Robbie and those older guys who necessarily don’t have as many chances left?
“We had such a great year and we were in a great position and to go down by a kick is heartbreaking and you just sort of question, is it going to happen again?”
So Boak had to absorb the full gamut of emotions — the fears, the doubts and the sadness — for weeks before acknowledging it was time for a reset.
“After those six to eight weeks I was just like, you know what I’m very lucky to be in this position with this group, they are amazing people and amazing athletes and we can certainly have a crack again and I want to be a part of that,” he said.
“So you have to let the pain sink in and let it hurt for a little while and then you work through it and you get a clearer picture
“We came back and spoke about the pain of it all in the off-season and then we were able to move on from that because we know we have a great group, a great footy club and we’ve done a lot of work to get ourselves in a really good position as well.”
While Boak has twice been hit by preliminary final heartbreak, he has also experienced a grand final loss. Strangely, that one did not hurt near as much. Port Adelaide was thrashed by 119 points at the hands of a rampaging Geelong in 2007.
Boak is the only player from that game still at the Power.
“When a game is so close you look at the two or three things that you could have done better that get you a goal or two goals and we win the game,” he said.
“On that day in the grand final we were just never in it and Geelong were just too good.
“It was 14 years ago and I was in my first year. So a lot of it is a blur anyway, I don’t think about it too much. I know a lot of Crows supporters like to bring up the margin and throw it at you every now and then. But it was a long time ago now
“But you play in those prelims and they are so close and you think, ‘wow we had a serious chance’.”
INSIDE BOAK’S MENTAL GAME
AS part of Boak’s pursuit to get every last bit out of himself, he has learned to embrace his vulnerability — a decision that has produced career best form.
He has done this through working with elite performance coach Nam Baldwin and Hugh van Cuylenburg, of The Resilience Project.
“We are going out there and playing in front of thousands of people, putting ourselves on the line, but you have to risk failure, you have to risk disapproval and all that stuff,” Boak explained.
“And that’s vulnerability right there, if you can show up and be your true self and try and do the best you can and let go of control, that’s the ultimate vulnerability.
“And when you are in that space you are a better and more authentic version of yourself and that’s where your best performances come out.
“So it is a challenge and it is never easy because you have so many people judging you.”
This is why Boak was extremely proud when teammate Karl Amon spoke candidly and emotionally about how recent events in the footy industry had impacted him as an Indigenous person.
“Hugh (van Cuylenburg) has been a big part of this footy club and has helped us build those connections in the club and for us to understand each other as human beings first and athletes second,” Boak said.
“That has been huge for us and allowed us to connect on a deeper level and then we go out on the field and we play for each other as friends and mates not just footballers if that makes sense.
“We are doing it for each other because we care about each other and understand each other, we know what football means and we know what family means for each other.
“Everyone has a different story and obviously Karl has his story and an Indigenous background and to hear their stories over the past couple of years and to have Pauly (Vandenbergh) run the program here has been incredible.
“Everyone has a story, where they grew up, how they grew up and the challenges they have faced.
“It’s never any judgment, it is just listening and there are so many stories that connect and are the same, someone has gone through something similar and you just resonate and you feel like you are part of something bigger than just a footy club.”
Being vulnerable and embracing it isn’t the only thing that Boak has worked on with Baldwin.
In fact regulating his breathing before and during games has been the biggest aspect the two have worked on for a while.
“Before the game is a huge part, I do a massive warm-up and then try and come off and calm myself down again so I can go into that first centre bounce really relaxed and my breathing and heart rate is at a really good level,” Boak said.
“But when you are in the game and come into a stoppage or a goal has been kicked to really focus on my breathing, to focus on my hands which takes me away from my thoughts it allows you to be present and it allows me to have clarity going into the next contest.
“These kind of things I had no idea about until I started working with Nam and it has made a huge difference to be way more present in the game, to see the game a lot more clearer and to understand the game lot more clearer. All of a sudden everything just opens up and you start making better decisions.
“Because you are just in the moment because you aren’t thinking about the result, you aren’t thinking about how many touches you have had, what people think and making mistakes, you are just really present about what is going on.
“It might sound a bit different to the normal training routines but that has kind of helped me a lot in the mental space and I think that is where a lot of athletes are growing, in that mental space, it can take your game to another level.”
HOW WOULD MISSING FLAG SIT WITH BOAK?
MANY believed last year was a missed opportunity for the Power to win a flag.
They sat on top of the ladder for the entire season, were able to stay in South Australia for most of the year and had the preliminary final at home.
While the Power have peaked later this year, they still have a preliminary final at home against the Western Bulldogs on Saturday night.
The Bulldogs have had to fly from Tasmania to Brisbane and then on to Perth before they come to Adelaide for the tantalising clash.
And while this shouldn’t be Boak’s last chance at a flag by any stretch of the imagination, if he can’t claim that ultimate prize – despite coming so close – would he have a sense of unfulfillment?
“I’d love to win a flag, I want to win a flag, it’s why you play footy but at the end of the day if I can inspire others to be the best that they can then I’ve done everything I can,” he said.
“And that is all I can ask, a flag is out of my control really. It is just about showing up and being the best you can be and getting the most out of yourself and if I can get everything out of myself and inspire people to do the same thing then I can leave footy with a smile on my face.
“That’s my purpose and if that means I walk away with a flag then great, that’s the ultimate goal.
“I certainly have a goal to win a flag for this footy club, for the fans and for the whole of Port Adelaide.
“But if that doesn’t happen for whatever reason and I’m able to inspire others then I leave with a smile.”
PORT VETERAN’S HEARTBREAKING WESTHOFF DEJA VU
Matt Turner
Hamish Hartlett is this season’s Justin Westhoff at Port Adelaide.
Twelve months after 280-game star Westhoff fell out of the Power side in the run to the major round, then was overlooked for the preliminary final, 13-year veteran Hartlett faces the same situation ahead of Saturday night’s blockbuster against the Western Bulldogs.
Hartlett looms as a Westhoff-like selection heartbreak story.
The player who has endured more than a decade of highs and lows at Port Adelaide, only to miss out on the club’s grand final bid.
Hartlett has taken to the field once since July 18, making his comeback from knee surgery in the SANFL on Saturday.
The 31-year-old was in the Magpies’ best against Glenelg, gathering 23 disposals and booting a goal.
But it would be a huge call for the Power to choose Hartlett ahead of Riley Bonner or Miles Bergman, given they had performed well at half-back in his absence.
Although Hartlett brings experience and hardness, he has not featured at AFL level since the June 19 win over Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium in Round 14.
Port Adelaide captain Tom Jonas called Hartlett his best mate and said selection would prove very difficult.
“He might need a little bit of luck with injury or a big decision from (coach) Kenny (Hinkley) but he’s going to be a significant part of it either way,” Jonas, who had Hartlett as his wedding MC in 2019, told News Corp.
“He’s the most selfless team person you could ever have around your group and I could not speak highly enough of him.”
Hartlett sits 10th on the club’s all-time AFL games list with 193 and has experienced as many tough times at Alberton as any teammate.
Port Adelaide’s highest ever draft pick, at No. 4 2008, Hartlett is one of only three current Power players to feature in the demoralising loss to GWS in 2012.
The leadership group member has also fought back from a swag of injuries, including shoulder and hamstring problems, as well as an anterior cruciate ligament rupture in 2018.
Hartlett played every AFL game last season for just the second time in his career but featured in a total of 16 the two previous campaigns.
The West Adelaide product has lined up in 10 this year.
He was dropped before Round 11 as a “circuit-breaker” as he battled a negative mindset then returned for the Suns match, only to be a late withdrawal the next week with a hip issue.
“His body’s been cruel, it’s probably hampered his whole career – it’s always been something that’s there and been a challenge for him,” Jonas said.
“His input in the group regardless has been monumental.
“He’s been a great leader for our whole club during what started in some pretty difficult times.”
If Hartlett is overlooked this week and Port Adelaide prevails, it is difficult to see him returning for the grand final unless a teammate is injured.
Hinkley will be loath to change a winning line-up and the Magpies’ season ending on Saturday does not help his selection prospects.
Going into Round 18 last year, Westhoff announced he would be retiring at the end of the season and he did not break back into the side.
Hartlett also might have played his last game for the Power.
He is out of contract at the end of the season and the club is delaying a decision on his future until after its finals campaign.
Some at Alberton believed Westhoff should have been picked over fellow forward Todd Marshall for last year’s preliminary final.
It is tougher to make a case for Hartlett because he is only one game back from surgery.
As Jonas suggests, his mate now requires a little luck.
But for a player who has been a victim of misfortune many times during his career, Hartlett is overdue to receive some.
The ‘son’ guiding Powell-Pepper
– Liz Walsh
Last Friday, Sam Powell-Pepper was almost ready to drive to Adelaide Oval ahead of Port Adelaide’s qualifying final against Geelong, but before he did there was one last goodbye he needed to give before the big game.
He called out to his dog, a five-year-old rottie-cross-kelpie named Abel, who came bounding up to him and the 23-year-old footballer gave his beloved pet a hug.
Abel arrived in Powell-Pepper’s life in January this year.
The dog had been rescued from a neglectful household in Powell-Pepper’s hometown of Perth by a friend, who’d nursed him back to health.
When he couldn’t keep him full-time, Powell-Pepper stepped in.
“My mate from Perth took Abel in for like six months and then he was going to give him up because he couldn’t look after him anymore, and I put my hand up and he flew him up to Adelaide,” Powell-Pepper explains.
“He’s my best mate. I call him my son.”
Abel arrived in Powell-Pepper’s life at a strange time for the livewire 91-game mid-forward.
In fact, it would be no understatement to say that 2021 has been a tough year for the man they call “Pep”.
It started with him buying his own house in Adelaide’s west and moving out of teammate Travis Boak’s place; a home that had become something of a sanctuary as he made his way in the football world.
From here, things quickly began to head off-track. After breaking his hand during a training incident in late February that required surgery, a question mark was placed over whether he’d be available for Round 1. Then, weeks later – amid reports he was partying with friends – he missed a mandatory rehab training session and club officials were left knocking on his door trying to track him down.
A few days later, the club announced that Powell-Pepper would be taking a break away from football, with him saying in a statement: “Along with the rehabilitation of my broken hand, there are other parts of my life that need some work right now”.
He moved out of his house and in with the Power veteran Hamish Hartlett, setting about getting himself right.
Powell-Pepper says those four weeks spent away from football were vital.
“I took a step away and just completely worked on myself … I’ve definitely come a long way and I’m better for it, having that break,” he says.
“I focused on myself, spending quality time with people who are close to me.
“To clear the mind, I’d go down to the beach, I’ve got my dog, I spent a lot of time with him, and we’d go for walks a lot.
“That’s pretty much what I did.
“You can’t just do it in four weeks, it takes a while … it’s not just a four-week process, it’s pretty much throughout the whole year.”
With the help of family, including straight-talking grandmother Caroline back in Perth, it’s fair to say that every day, the proud Indigenous man continues to work on himself.
“Oh, 100 per cent,” he says.
“I guess everyone works on themselves a fair bit.
“I’ve had to learn and mature in a very quick amount of time (since being drafted as an 18-year-old in 2016), but I’m definitely always working on myself.
“No matter what sport you’re in, at the elite level, you do feel pressure, but everyone else has their own thing going on in their lives as well, so you don’t know what’s really going on.
“It’s just some people deal with it differently, and others don’t.
“Obviously, at the start of the year, I had to work through a few things for myself (but I) came back and I’ve worked my way back into the side.”
He returned to Alberton in early April, playing Rounds 3 and 4 with the Magpies in the SANFL, before playing his first AFL game of 2021 in Round 7’s loss to Brisbane on May 1 (he’d played all possible 19 matches in Covid-compromised 2020).
He describes it as an “amazing” feeling to have got back playing.
“Spewing that I missed the first part, but I came back, and played my role of the team,” he says.
“It was good feelings to come back from my break and know how much I love footy.”
Powell-Pepper played 14 games straight, kicking eight goals, before being dropped back to the Magpies for the final two games of the AFL minor rounds, with coach Ken Hinkley explaining: “It is not something we do lightly … he is a very valuable part of our team in its best shape. But you also need to play at your best form.”
A month or so ago, Powell-Pepper moved back into his own home with girlfriend, Brya, and “son” Abel.
He’s started cooking – pork roast complete with crackling now something of his signature dish – and he’s living a quiet life away from the football field.
The three of them love heading to the beach together and they spent a lot of time with Brya’s family.
Having Abel in his life has given Powell-Pepper an important sense of responsibility.
“He’s my first dog. I had a family dog growing up, but this is my first dog,” he says.
“I never really know what to expect. I knew I always loved dogs, but just the responsibility, it’s like another person, you’ve got to feed him, take him for walks stuff like that, but it’s a nice responsibility to have, you know?
“He’s a nice, affectionate dog and everyone loves him too. Wherever I take him, they just love him, because he’ll just go up to anyone and he’s so affectionate and he doesn’t bark, he just does a howl, it’s very cute.
“He’s a good little boy.”
Having played a pair of games in the SANFL then came the second qualifying final against Geelong at Adelaide Oval on August 27, and news that Powell-Pepper was elevated to medical sub.
“I knew that I was a chance to get dropped (after Round 21), I wasn’t playing my best footy, I put in two SANFL games, built a bit of form up and got a chance to be a medi-sub, I would loved to be playing in the side, but I’m happy to be playing my role for the team.”
Heading to Adelaide Oval for the game, he was filled with nerves.
“I felt nervous, like I was actually playing, and I was talking to a few of the lads, I was talking to Sam Mayes about how I should go about it, he said pretty much, stay relaxed.
“I was really excited, but unsure whether I’d come on and play.”
As the game wore on – Port increasingly burying the Cats – finally came Powell-Pepper’s chance. In the early stages of the final term, lively forward Orazio Fantasia, came from the ground with a sore knee.
The message came to the bench: Powell-Pepper was going on. As he started warming up on the sidelines, supporters nearby began shouting out encouragement.
And then, as he ran out onto Adelaide Oval, the 20,000-strong crowd simply roared.
Powell-Pepper would spend only 20 minutes on the ground, but in that time he kicked 2.1 from six touches, with each goal seeing him surrounded by his jubilant teammates.
When he kicked his second goal, vision came from the coaches’ box of Hinkley smiling and clapping the efforts of his mid-forward: it wasn’t just the crowd who were revelling in the Powell-Pepper show, that helped Port to a convincing 43-point win over the Cats.
“I took my chance, that’s for sure,” he says.
“It was a fun 20 minutes.
“To hear the whole crowd cheering (me) was pretty special and I love the Port supporters, they are real passionate and it was good to feel the love.
“To come on in the final for the last 20 minutes and kick two goals, that was like a fairytale feeling.”
He says the key to getting back on track has been the support and care he received from “the club and all the boys”.
“Just having positive influences around me and the love and support from the boys and the coaches and family as well.”
And you get the sense Powell-Pepper has matured throughout 2021.
“I look back on my short life and I’ve achieved so much,” he muses.
“When I look at my family, there weren’t too many achievements, like I was the first person to graduate high school in my family.
“And just getting drafted and achieving all these unreal things, it’s just unimaginable and I’m grateful for everything. It’s only the beginning, there’s so much more to achieve.”
He says it was important for him to take time out of footy to really work on getting himself right so he could continue being an inspiration to his family.
“That’s what I try and do it for, my younger brother, and my nieces and nephews, they all look up to me and that’s kind of what I want to do, be a role model and inspiration to the younger ones.”
But first, there’s Saturday’s night’s preliminary final, with Port Adelaide hoping to make its first AFL grand final since 2007.
“If I’m sub next week (in the preliminary final), I’d be happy with that. If I’m playing next week I’ll be happy with that, either way, I will do the team thing.”
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Originally published as AFL preliminary final: The players and stories behind Port Adelaide’s premiership dream
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